Atlanta
\nFifa refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina defended the officiating in Argentina\u2019s 3-2 victory over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16, dismissing allegations of bias and saying match officials operated with complete independence.
\nIn an interview published on Fifa website on Thursday, Collina said criticism of referees was part of football but he condemned the questioning of the officials\u2019 integrity after Egypt complained about the officiating following the defeat.
\n\u201cConstructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,\u201d Collina said.
\n\u201cNobody can question the integrity of the Fifa World Cup match officials … Nobody can claim that Fifa refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the Fifa president [Gianni Infantino].\u201d
\nCollina said that such allegations could provoke threats against referees and their families.
\nEgypt exited the tournament but claimed they had been treated unfairly after Argentina overturned a 2-0 deficit to snatch victory with a stoppage-time winner from Enzo Fernandez.
\nCoach Hossam Hassan alleged after the match there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament.
\nAnd the Egyptian Football Association said \u201cseveral key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.\u201d
\nEgypt argued that Mostafa Zico\u2019s second-half strike was incorrectly ruled out for what it described as a non-existent foul in the build-up. Egypt were also incensed that a challenge on Mohamed Salah was not penalised moments before Argentina launched the move that produced the winning goal.
\nFifa\u2019s Collina said VAR had correctly recommended overturning Zico\u2019s goal after identifying a foul by Marwan Attia on Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez during the attacking possession phase.
\n\u201cWe believe that a foul is a foul,\u201d Collina said. \u201cRegardless of whether the foul appears \u2018obvious\u2019, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene.\u201d
\nCollina also defended the decision not to award Egypt a penalty before Argentina\u2019s winner, saying both the referee and VAR judged the contact between Salah and Julian Alvarez to be \u201cnormal football contact\u201d.
\n\u201cStepping on an opponent\u2019s foot is a foul, whereas a defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal football contact has not committed a foul,\u201d he said.
\nWhile acknowledging that some decisions would always involve an element of subjectivity, Collina said Fifa was satisfied with how VAR principles had been applied throughout the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Atlanta Fifa refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina defended the officiating in Argentina\u2019s 3-2 victory over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16, dismissing allegations of bias and saying match officials operated with complete independence. In an interview published on Fifa website on Thursday, Collina said criticism of referees was part of football but he condemned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n